Review: The Wolf Among Us, Episode 5: Cry Wolf

At long last, it’s time for the grand finale of Telltale Games’ adaptation of the Fables series, The Wolf Among Us. But now that the story is complete, does it all hold together or did it fall apart like a house of cards? Read on for my spoiler-free review!

The time for detective work is done. No more investigating or interrogating. Now is the time for action. And Episode 5: Cry Wolf has action in spades. After a very tense conversation that picks up from last episode’s cliffhanger, things spiral out of control in a big way, leading to a rather fantastic action setpiece. And following that, you get a little bit of time to catch your breath before launching headfirst into a wonderfully satisfying battle sequence. (Let’s just say that character had it coming, and I relished finally giving it to them!) And ultimately all the pieces fall into place and the climactic scene brings all the threads you’ve been gathering throughout the game to weave a solid conclusion.

There was a choice about 2/3 of the way through this episode where I kind of want to replay to see how it plays out if you choose the other option, because I have no idea how the final scene would work if that particular path was chosen. Other than that, this is more about the repercussions of some of the choices you made throughout. I never felt like any really came back to bite me, but it is nice to hear the characters reference the actual choices you made while playing through the game. I did find it odd that even at the very end, you still get the notifications in the upper left of the screen telling you that particular characters will remember those moments. But I took that as an indication that there will likely be a second season of The Wolf Among Us, and your actions will continue to have consequences down the road.

That ending epilogue was really the only thing that I didn’t like about The Wolf Among Us. And it’s part of my issue with the episodic nature of Telltale’s games. With a series like The Walking Dead, the episodic format works better, because each episode has a relatively self-contained story that is part of a larger arc. But in The Wolf Among Us, each episode is simply a chapter of the whole, and that month or so break in between episodes just made the overarching mystery harder to follow for me. The previouslies weren’t enough to remind me of all the details, so I sometimes struggled to keep track of the suspects and various subplots. And so at the end, there is a deliberately vague moment that’s clearly meant to be a tease for a second season, but it just left me completely befuddled, because I had no idea what they were trying to get across. (I felt better after looking online, because message boards appear to be full of people who are still debating it amongst themselves.) It’s just a shame, because after a super-satisfying conclusion to the story, it was a little annoying to have this weird little epilogue that fell flat. It tainted the ending for me.

But overall, The Wolf Among Us is another wonderful jewel in Telltale Games’ crown, and a fantastic adventure game full of compelling characters and an intricate mystery. Obviously, if you have played the first four episodes, you’re going to play Episode 5: Cry Wolf no matter what, so you can see how it all turns out, but if you haven’t yet checked out The Wolf Among Us, I highly recommend you do. Especially since now you can play all five episodes in a row so you can follow the mystery easier and not forget any details in between! (Unless that was just me!)

A review copy of The Wolf Among Us, Episode 5: Cry Wolf was provided by Telltale Games for the purpose of this review, and was played through to completion.

(Writer) I love Animal Crossing, music games (even though I can’t sing or play instruments) and adventure games. And the occasional 40+ hr JRPG when I can find the time! I live in Brooklyn, NY with my husband, Frank.